Pages

Saturday, December 6, 2014

#77: Assassin's Creed: Unity: The Broken Shell

There are
many different types of games out there. Some of them are astounding
bad in all categories. Others do one or two things well, but are
brought down by mediocrity in other areas. Still more are games that
are excellent, despite minor issues. And then, there are special
games. Games with certain aspects done incredibly well and others
miserably bad. Assassin's Creed: Unity is one such game. This is a
title where the fundamental core of the game is solid, but the
systems surrounding it, the shell, if you will allow this analogy, is
irreparably terrible. In other words, it is broken. This week, I will
tell describe this “broken shell”, and why it is the fundamental
reason why Unity has become a laughing stock among gamers in recent
history.

The most
noticeable section of the broken shell is the Companion App. When the
game proper came out, Ubisoft also saw fit to release a companion app
for the game, available on both Android and iOS. This is not the
first time Ubisoft has done something like this. Watch_Dogs had a
companion app as well. C_TOS, as it was called, allowed players to
enter the game of, and attack, other players. They could send police
and trigger traps to defeat their friends, from anywhere in the world
with a solid internet connection. Overall, this was a neat little
diversion that was not necessary, but gave players a way of
interacting with the game when they were unable to play it.

The
Official Assassin's Creed: Unity Companion App works differently.
Chief among these differences is the fact that it can only be played
while Assassin's Creed: Unity is running on a PS4, Xbox One, or PC.
It has several features, including a map of the title's rendering of
Paris. Furthermore, a “Nomad” minigame, similar to the
Brotherhood mechanic found in previous titles in the franchise.
Players can recruit characters to develop their skills and undertake
missions to earn resources. These nomads can even be used to open
treasure chests scattered through Paris, like those in previous
Assassin's Creed games. In fact, and this is perhaps the most
egregious part of the whole thing, there are several chests and
unlockables that can only be obtained through the use of this
companion app. As a result, if one does not want to use it, or (like
me) is unable to do so due to technical reasons (my phone will not
run it), it is impossible to complete everything in the game. In this
way, the app has gone from an interesting way to continuously
interact with the game to a necessary component of it.

Another
component of this broken shell is the integration with Assassin's
Creed: Initiates social network. Not many people are aware of this,
but Ubisoft has been pushing this little social network ever since
the release of Assassin's Creed 3. Franchise fans can sign up for an
account, separate from their Uplay account (though the two need to be
synced to make best use of the feature). As they play Assassin's
Creed games that have Uplay integration, they gain experience and
level up on this profile. This unlocks series lore and information on
the website. Furthermore, they may even receive in-game bonuses
resources on certain titles.

Assassin's
Creed: Unity makes more use of this feature. By syncing their
Initiates profile to the game, they can gain Initiates experience by
completing challenges in the game. Through tracking both these
accomplishments and what players do during the assassination missions
in the main story, Initiates will also determine the player's style.
By itself, that would be fine. The issue comes from the fact that
there are many unlockable outfits, and again treasure chests, that
will only open if the player has a sufficient Initiates level. Just
like before, this leaves it impossible to completely finish the game
without first having such an account. Further, these unlockables are
likely out of reach unless said player also goes back to all the
older Assassin's Creed games and syncs their progress to Initiates.
Unless the player has been a long-time fan of the series, they are
unlikely to progress far enough to get much of anything.

The last
section of this broken shell is the newly added microtransactions. In
Unity, the player can purchase new equipment, which affects their
character's abilities, and upgrade it as well. They can, and likely
will, spend in-game resources on these items. However, they can also
spend Helix Credits, which can be purchased using real-world money.
These Helix Credits can also be used, along with UPlay credits (which
are acquired in the same way they are in every Ubisoft game), to
purchase temporary boosts like “Extra Attack Power for 5 Minutes”.
Given that the game already costs $60, it feels a bit like Ubisoft is
nickel-and-diming players when they do not have to. It is worth
noting that none of these are necessary to complete the game. Most
players will never even consider purchasing them. However, the mere
existence of this offering is indicative of what I hope is not going
to be a trend going forward for the franchise.

I bring
all of this up because it feels like many of the critics talking
about Assassin's Creed: Unity are mentioning these grips only in
passing. Rather, I am hearing many comment on the more obvious
technical issues, like the face glitches. Though the technical
problems are certainly worth mentioning, too much time is focused on
them. They can be easily fixed and do not represent the vision laid
out for the game. However, the design issues discussed in this
article are representative of Ubisoft's vision. Unfortunately, this
part of their vision is ugly. It represents a forced integration of
social apps and social networking and a willingness to try and get
players to make microtransactions in full retail-priced games. None
of this really enters into the structure of the main part of the
game, but it brings down all the same. This outer layer, what I call
the “broken shell”, is what keeps players from appreciating the
core of game. And there is a lot of like about Unity, despite these
elements. Next week, I plan to discuss the good parts in more detail.